The National Commission for Women (NCW) has evolved
the concept of Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat, which in turn supplements the
efforts of the District Legal Service Authority (DLSA) for redressal and speedy
disposal of the matters pending in various courts related to marriage and
family affairs.
Objectives of Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat:
● To provide speedy and cost free dispensation of
justice to women.
● To generate awareness among the public regarding
conciliatory mode of dispute settlement.
● To gear up the process of organizing the Lok
Adalats and to encourage the public to settle their disputes outside the formal
set-up.
● To empower public especially women to participate
in justice delivery mechanism.
The Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat functions on the
model of the Lok Adalat. The Commission provides financial assistance to NGOs
or State Women Commissions or State Legal Service Authority to organize the Parivarik
Mahila Lok Adalat.
Benefits
of Lok Adalat
● Cases are amicably settled by the parties in a
harmonious atmosphere.
● It saves time, effort and expenses.
●Long pending disputes in the courts can be settled
through the Lok Adalat expeditiously.
● Copies of decisions of the Lok Adalat are given to
the parties free of cost.
● The decision of the Lok Adalt is final and there is
no appeal against the same.
Validity
of Award of Lok Adalat
● Under the Legal Service Authority Act, 1987, the
decisions of the Lok Adalat have legal validity.
● The award of the Lok Adalat has the same force as
a decree of the Court of Law.
● The decisions of the Lok Adalat are based on terms
of mutual consent of the parties.
● The decisions of the Lok Adalat are binding on the
parties.
How
to Organise PMLA?
● The NGOs approach the DLSA or District Judge and
collect information about pending cases of family disputes within the district.
● The DLSA selects women related cases which are
admissible in the Lok Adalat, and makes relevant files/case papers available to
the NGOs.
● It is expected that minimum 60 cases shall be
taken up for handling in PMLA.
● NGOs should take written permission from DLSA to
do the counselling in selected cases.
● The NGOs, through their counsellors should
approach the parties and start counselling prior to the date of the PMLA to bring
them to a compromise or settlement.
● The NGOs will organise PMLA on the specified date
on which the cases will be brought up for settlement.
● If necessary, the NGOs may approach the DLSA to
summon the parties.
● The settlement should be noted down on paper in
each case and the signatures of both the parties must be obtained on the document
which will be presented before PMLA for its legal authentication.
● At least 40% of the cases received from DLSA must
be disposed of on the date of PMLA.
● The NGOs should approach the District Judge to
appoint a Presiding Officer, for the PMLA, who should be a Judge and two or
more members who can be judges, advocates or social activists.
● The Venue of the PMLA should be a suitable central
place convenient to the panelists as well as the parties and preferably premises
other than a Court Room.
● NGOs should ensure the presence of compromising
parties on the date of PMLA.
● The panel will authenticate the settlement on the
date of PMLA.
● Court decree will be issued as per the settlement
and will be legally binding on both the parties.
● The settled cases will be withdrawn from the
dealing courts.
● NGOs should invite media publicity.
● NGOs shall not charge any fee from the parties.
Role of Counselling
An important
aspect of PMLA is to give patient hearing to the parties in an informal manner.
Counselling plays a crucial role in settling a case. The Counsellors are
required to assist the PMLA in the delivery of justice. They play positive and
constructive role in the settlement of disputes. In the process the Counsellors
have to win the confidence of both the parties. Normally the suffering parties
open up before the Counsellors to sort out their disputes and even other problems.
Though it is a time taking process, it is an important tool to bring the
parties to an amicable settlement and resolve the disputes. The counsellors
should be qualified and have experience to promote the settlement of disputes
between the parties through conciliation and counselling. Counsellors should
also have good skill of
making report of settlement as Presiding Officer
relies on their report.
Financial Assistance
The
Commission provides financial assistance limited to Rs. 30,000/- (Rupees Thirty
thousand only) to NGOs to organise the PMLA.
The item-wise ceiling for incurring expenditure is
given below:
a) Printing of Banners, Posters and Handbills Rs.
5,000/-
b) Photography Rs. 1,000/-
c) Tea/Working Lunch Rs. 800/-
(Hospitality should be as per GOI norms of Rs. 5/-
per person for Tea and Rs. 50/- per Person for Working Lunch)
d) Vehicle charges (not more than 15 days) Rs.
6,000/
e) Honorarium to Counsellors Rs. 7,500/-
f) TA/DA to NGOs etc Rs. 3,000/-
g) Refreshment etc prior to holding PMLA Rs. 4,000/-
(Hospitality should be as per GOI norms of Rs. 5/-
per person for Tea and Rs. 50/- per person for Working Lunch)
h) Miscellaneous Rs. 2,700/-
For the North- Eastern States the financial
assistance shall be of amount not exceeding Rs. 40,000/-.
Organisations Eligible for Assistance
Any voluntary
organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or State
Women Commission or DLSA jointly with NGOs/ Educational Institutions can apply
in the prescribed Format
with the following documents for financial
assistance to hold PMLA:
i) Certified copy of Registration.
ii) Certified copy of Memorandum & Articles of
Association with latest composition of the Boards.
iii) Certified copy of Audited Statement of Accounts
for the last three years.
iv) Annual Report for the last 3 years (Requirement
of documents at (i) to (iv) is dispensed with in the case of State Commission for
Women and Government bodies.)
v) Documents giving details of past experiences of:
● Counselling and
● Women related programmes.
vi) Written permission from the District Judge/DLSA
with the list of cases.
vii) The tentative date/month for organising the
PMLA (in consultation with the District Judge/ DLSA).
viii) The details of assistance received or likely
to be available from other sources including DLSA, Local Authorities, Voluntary
Organizations and other Institutions.
Terms and Conditions
➢
The financial assistance given by the Commission will be used only for
organizing PMLA.
➢
The assistance will be released in two installments:
➢
Rs. 15,000/- (Rupees fifteen thousand only) will be released
as advance when the proposal is approved by the
Commission after receiving consent of the District Judge/DLSA along with the
list of the cases obtained from the District Judge/DLSA, a small write up on
the proposed programme alongwith steps proposed to be taken for counseling as
per instructions in Para 6, and an undertaking as per the Format .
➢
The balance amount will be released after conducting of the PMLA and on the
submission of the (i) Utilization certificate from the Chartered Accountant,
(ii) Statement of Account, (iii) Original vouchers of expenditure, (iv) The
details of cases considered in the PMLA and the result thereof and (v) A
Report/ Write-up on the function held with the photographs and copies of
Banners etc.
➢
The utilization certificate along with other documents should be submitted
within one month from the date of PMLA.
➢
The NGO should ensure involvement of DLSA, other organizations, public
representatives, women activists etc. in the PMLA as indicated in Para 6.
➢
Photographs of the programme as well as the pamphlets, any other literature if
published, and media reports should be sent to the Commission.
➢
No equipment/asset will be purchased out of the assistance given by the
Commission.
➢
Unspent portion of the assistance will be refunded to the Commission.
➢
Separate accounts of the programme will be maintained and the same will be
subjected to test check by the Commission through its representative or CAG.
➢
In the event of violation of any of the terms and conditions of sanction or
non-holding of PMLA, the organisation will have to refund the entire amount of
sanction to the Commission on demand or such part thereof, alongwith penal
interest, as per the government rates.
➢
The Commission may lay down any other conditions prior to the release of the
assistance.
Matters which can be brought before the
Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats The following type of matters can be brought
before the PMLA:
- All civil cases
- Matrimonial disputes including divorce,
maintenance (of wife, parents, children etc.
- Compoundable Criminal cases
- Disputes related to Labour Laws
- Motor Accident Claims
- Bigamy
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